Hearts of Twilight
by didsomeonesayventus
Summary: Xehannort's gone and Sora's a free Keyblade Master. Maybe a nice vacation touring the worlds is just what he needs. The problem is this world needs a little saving...
1. A New World

"Okay then, first solo mission as a Keyblade Master with nobody but me heading the mission." Sora muttered to himself as he sailed through the Lanes Between in his new Gummi ship. He'd made it exactly for this, and as a exact (but improved- what could he say the original wasn't fit for sailing nowadays and was pretty outdated) replica of the original model of the Highwind he'd started all his crazy journeys in. He even kept the moniker, except he added a Mark 2 on the end so no one got confused.

Sora's fingers drummed on the steering mechanism anxiously. He was completely alone. No Roxas, no Ven, no Xion, no Riku, no Kairi, no Terra, no Aqua, no Donald, no Goofy, no King Mickey. Still, he whistled the march he'd picked up from Donald and Goofy during longer trips, smiling.

He didn't know where he was heading besides "somewhere new". In fact, Yen Sid had promoted this, saying Keyblade Masters of old would go out and see all the worlds they could if they decided against staying in one and training students. Sora's smile faltered slightly when he realized Xehanort had taken that approach, but he shook his head. He wasn't going to become corrupted like that old and wicked man.

He saw a world he didn't recognize, and sped off towards it "That place looks nice."

...

Sora's eyes widened at the plains that unfolded in front of him "Wow... This place is bigger than the pride lands!" He spun around with a grin "Man, more diverse too! Got a mountain, a river, and..." He trailed off, then began running "A castle under attack...!"

It didn't take terribly long to rush through the gates to the surrounding town, but each second felt like a full minute to Sora. People needed him, people were in trouble! He pushed through the crowd, calming down when he realized that most of the damage going on was in the castle itself. Still, the clouds of smoke and flickers of flame weren't reassuring in the least. He pushed through the heavy gates and opening the next set was a little harder. "Jeez people!" He sighed under his breath "Glad to have security but this is getting cumbersome!"

He took a moment to assess the burning courtyard with their own small battalions of monsters, then headed for the doors into the castle where most of the fires seemed to be-

An orange cloud of twilight flecked with black descended onto the world. Sora paused- this wasn't an ordinary sunset. This felt... Skin crawling and unnatural. A little thick like someone had poured heavy fog into the atmosphere. He looked at his hands, his eyes wincing slightly. Everything had a diffused glow to it now, too, one that was a little hard to look at. The coloring was also unlike a typical sunset-

His hand suddenly went to his throat, which was constricting. No, no, actually it felt like something was building up inside of him. He coughed into his free hand as his head began exploding with almost delirious pain. When he pulled his hand back, there was a dark liquid on it. He wasn't entirely sure thanks to the suddenly odd sepia toned colors in this new world, but it could have passed for blood. His legs buckled underneath him, and he coughed again. It hurt. Everything hurt and felt like it was trying to kill him. He tried keeping himself conscious, but he toppled to the ground and succumbed to the darkness.

The depths of unconsciousness was welcoming compared to the earlier pain. Sora felt calmer as he floated around in blissful ignorance. But then he heard a mournful sound, like a woman wailing a sad and ethereal lullaby. He blearily opened his eyes, seeing what looked like a gigantic snake made of light staring intently at him. It wasn't threatening, just observing as it began fading away into the darkness with a keening cry that made Sora tear up.

Sora felt himself slip into sleep just as he heard the barest whisper: "Warrior... Of another world... Of another Destiny... Help... Us..."

...

The first thing Sora registered was stone beneath him and a burning feeling all over his body. He slowly opened his eyes, and noted dismally he was in a dungeon or jail or something. He sat up, gasping and groaning as his body resisted. It felt like his muscles had cramped up everywhere. He tried to rub his face, but ended up staring confusedly at a chain attached to his wrist.

He sighed "Not very bright are they...?" He held out his freed hand to summon his Keyblade-

He shrieked. The Kingdom Key coalesced for only a second in his hand before it felt like his whole body was burning. He writhed on the ground for a few minutes after, almost sobbing from the torture of it.

After he got himself to calm down, he sat back up, "Okay, no Keyblade." He tugged at his chain "...too strong to break with just my hands." He looked around for a rock or something similar, but to no avail. He tugged at the chain with a small scoff, relinquishing his ideas to the situation and realizing that maybe tugging was all he could do.

Sora paused when he heard a small, high pitched laugh. He looked around in the orange tinted dimness "Who's there?" He clenched his fists as the voice laughed again. It was inhuman laughter. "I said who's there?!" Sora yelled.

"Boo!" Sora yelled in surprise as an odd little creature sprung from the darkness "I found you!"

Sora looked it- perhaps her -over. An odd little imp of a creature with an odd mask covering one eye and most of her drawn back hair, her body curvy and tattooed with black and white and glowing electric blue lines. She leaned back from her excited spring with a yawn, and Sora finally noticed she was floating around "Oh come on, I was joking."

Sora glared at her "Wasn't very fu-"

"Well it was to me! Especially your face!" The imp replied with a giggle. Sora felt a little squeamish seeing that smile she wore.

He shook his head and waved his hand to try and get her away "Leave me alone I'm trying to esca- HEY!" He stopped himself as the imp began pooling energy between her hands "I-I'm defenseless against that don't-" the moment he held out his chained hand was the moment the imp released the energy, and the chain snapped.

Sora pulled his hand in "Woah." He blinked, picking up the broken chain "Um... Thank you?" He looked up. No one was there. Then he felt something heavy fall into his hoodie and a familiar giggle.

He stood up and began wildly scrambling at his back "HEY! YOU GET OUT OF THERE!"

The imp held onto his hood for dear life, saying "Well I saved your life! You're under my rules no-" Sora pulled his hood on, effectively trapping the imp against his head "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

Sora shut his eyes so they would hopefully not get scratched out in anger "You be quiet and let me get on my way." He found himself pulling his hood against his head soon after, then opened his eyes and looked around in confusion. He stopped and stared at the imp, who was now glaring right in front of him.

"Listen here, spiky." She began, poking his nose "I could've let you waste away in here, so you owe me big time!"

Sora lowered his hood "Excuse me but I don't have to listen to you." He smiled, proud and smug "I'm a Keyblade Master!"

The imp only flew right over him and back into his hood "Dunno what that is." Sora yelped when she tugged at his hair "Now get a move on and find us a way outta here. That's the only way I'm gonna let you repay your debt to me."

Sora turned to look at her over his shoulder, realizing she wasn't gonna quit "Okay fine! Gosh!" He shook his head while muttering "Don't even know your name."

"It's Midna, sweetie." She yawned "Do get your mistress's name memorized."

Sora looked around, sighing at the reminder of a certain redhead's annoying catchphrase "Yeah, yeah, I got it memorized." He found that the gate was rusted enough to break down, but the exit to elsewhere in the castle was completely locked.

"Well? Can't go that way." Midna quipped.

Sora inspected the cell next to his, kicking aside a box. He smiled "Hey! A crawlspace!" He crouched over "This has gotta lead somewhere..."

* * *

DA DA DA DAAAAAAAAAA congrats another stupid thing to pile on top of my massive list of abandoned and writer-blocked projects


	2. Sewers and Sarcasm

What it lead to was apparently a sewer, "Must be under the city or somethin'..." He paused upon seeing what looked like a small blue flame. He walked over and tilted his head at it "Huh... What's this?" He held out his hand to touch it.

"I wouldn't." Midna said, "That's a spirit."

Sora pulled his hand back, "A what?"

"What happens when ordinary people are exposed to twilight. They turn into spirits when drawn away from their precious light."

Sora frowned, "Oh..." He turned his head to Midna, still lounging in his hood, "But wait, why am I not a spirit?"

Midna shrugged, "How am I supposed to know? You were just kind of thrown in that cell with your corporeal form maintained somehow."

Sora stared at the spirit awhile, wondering why he wasn't the same. He then turned, seeing that the sewer was a little bigger than he thought. "Huh." He sloshed in the walkway only a second before something black skittered by his feet. He jumped back; he was weapon-less, so a monster wouldn't be a good thing to face right now.

"It was just vermin. Nothing to worry about you scaredy pants." Midna sighed.

Sora clasped his hands together, "I dunno, I'm kinda powerless here."

"Wow, I didn't think you'd be such a coward." Midna yawned a little and settled in Sora's hood. Sora glared at her, then looked around.

He walked through a gate, noting the chain hanging around, and the spikes down in one direction, " Okay, not that way..."

There was a chain- or at least he thought it was a chain this light strained his eyes and made shadows creep in his vision the farther and farther things were -down one way and possibly a gate of some kind.

He hopped down and walked over to the gate, then felt around, "Okay, okay then we can get out this way, but how." he began pulling from the bottom, "Do. I. Open it?!" He sighed and backed up, Midna's taunting giggles not helping the anger rushing to his head. He then noted something orange and cyan with a hand at the end above his head pointing to the chain. "Oh." He jumped up to the walkway and grabbed it, and the supposed route of escape was revealed to be a sluice.

Treading water was easy enough for him, but containing his annoyance wasn't. "Ugh! That was supposed to be our way out!" He whined as he splashed at the water. Shortly after he coughed, more blood coming up. He laid down, continuing to cough at a violent rate.

"Jeez, you okay kid?" Midna asked, "I didn't know you were such a wimp-"

"This normally doesn't happen to me!" Sora snapped at her. He turned over and threw up. Shortly after he washed up his hands, the apparent episode of sickness done, "I don't know what's going-" He took off his gloves, "...on..." He looked at his hands, specifically the veins and arteries at his wrists. They were darker, looking sickly and poisoned.

Midna cheekily prodded his neck, "Same deal up here, spiky."

Sora didn't snap back at her as he raised his hand to his neck. Whatever pulse he felt was syncopated and weak. He puffed up his bangs, unsure how to deal with this new development. He checked his bag, bringing out a potion, then uncorked it and drank up, feeling that maybe that would cure up whatever illness this was.

He was about to throw away the bottle like he always did before Midna said, "You probably wanna keep that."

Sora stood, noting Midna was now leaning on his shoulder, "Why."

"Keep the blood of your enemies, imprison fairies, and the like." She laughed at his disgusted expression, and plopped back into his hood.

Sora then noted the water was high enough to swim over the spikes, and sighed as he splashed in to continue on, "There's gotta be an out somewhere..."

He walked past a spirit, and flinched at a brief flash of fear: "What are these black things... Where are they coming from... And how do we get out of here?!" He stopped and held a hand to his head. He quietly tried ignoring the thought but it just kept coming back-

"Incoming!"

Sora's head snapped up just as one of the little "black things" chomped at his leg. He yelled in pain and shook it off, then kicked it back into the shadows. As he pulled out bandages for his leg- he wanted his stock of potions to last as long as it could, after all -he growled at Midna, "You want help from me you gotta pull more weight than that!"

Midna only yawned some more, "You only got a boo-boo."

Sora tied up his bandage, "I'll be lucky if that doesn't get mildly infected." He then noted a few bars separating what looked like a way back, "Well ther- HEY!"

Midna flew out of his hoodie and phased through the bars. She waved her ponytail at him, "Well, come on!"

Sora hopped around until he got as close as he could get, and noted dismally there was nothing but bars. Much better kept bars, "I can't get through this!"

"Then find a way!" Midna said unhelpfully.

Sora looked around again, "But I can't-" he stopped himself when he saw the crawlspace flooded by water. He turned around, "Gimme a sec." He grinned when he spotted the next sluice not too far away in the opposite direction. He made his way over to the chain dangling at the intersection, ignored the spirit huddling in the corner down the way, and pulled.

There was a creak, but the gate didn't open, "Hu- AGH!" Sora was attacked by another shadowy beast, but his size proved to be a better weapon when he threw it off and managed to crush it under his foot.

He coughed up blood again, which he really didn't need when there was now a gash in his shoulder. He took another potion and hoped he could find a place to get more whenever push came to shove. He then jumped over to the other chain, and sighed in relief when it opened the sluice instead of an ambush.

After that he hopped down and tromped over to the crawlspace in triumph and made his way in. He ran past the spirit and grinned triumphantly at Midna, "Ha! Nailed it!"

She grinned sardonically at him, "Oh, but that was such an adventure, wasn't it?" She jumped back into his hood, "Too bad we still have a long way to go."

Sora sighed. He then walked up to the stairs, and noted there was several chunks missing from them, "That's great." He readied himself for a jump, "Haven't you people ever heard of mainten-ANNNCEEE!" The jump went great, but the stairs refused to play along and crumbled under Sora's feet. He landed in the water below with a hard knock to his jaw from the beginning of the staircase.

"What are you doing?!" Midna asked.

Sora only stood back up and walked back to the jump, "I can't make this easily-"

Midna floated over, "Here, focus on me. I apparently have to do everything for you."

Sora was about to rebuke that statement, but instead he did as Midna said and jumped afterwards. To his surprise he made the jump and the one that followed after easily. Midna stretched in his hoodie, "There you go!"

Sora didn't want to thank her- not yet at least -for that since it was really the first thing she'd done for him without an ulterior motive. He merely went up the rest of the stairs, occasionally with Midna's help again or kicking off shadow beasts or shimmying across ropes. At the top the door to what was presumably outside was locked, but Sora craned his neck upwards.

"Didn't lock the top, I see." He muttered at the swinging door higher up. He could see a glow, and he presumed that it was outside even more since it was swinging around from wind. He jumped up with the help of Midna, and laughed in giddy relief that it was all over.

* * *

I wouldn't quite say it's over yet Sora ;p also OH HO HO THIS ISN'T DEAD


	3. The Girl in the Tower

Rain was the first thing Sora felt. It pelted his already wet form and winds sent him shivering and clutching himself. He was dressed for nice weather, not rain and windchill. He looked around and realized he was at the castle he was charging into earlier.

"And now you care to guess where we are?" Midna quipped. Sora's teeth chattered, but he remained silent. She then yawned, "Isn't the black cloak of twilight lovely today?" Sora figured it was beautiful in a sense, but honestly it was too odd seeing clouds and skies being rendered in pale orange and dark grayish black. It looked sick, like he was.

Midna tugged at his hair, "Come on! I want you to go over to that tower!"

Sora shook his head to collect himself again and trudged off. It was pretty obvious which tower Midna meant, but it was still going to be a chore getting there. He jogged over to another spirit, catching another flash: "... monstrous birds..." He ignored it as he pushed a crate up to a elevated spot in the path and climbed up. He jumped down the other way, and froze.

"Big bird..." He murmured at the sight of an incredibly creepy bird of prey preening itself. Or, well, whatever it could do with its odd head that looked like what normal head it'd previously owned had exploded.

Sora cautiously backed up, "I don't think we should go that way-"

Midna hopped out of his hood and pushed him forward. The bird straightened, then took to the air with a warped and hornlike cry. Sora cursed under his breath and ran. He clambered over the dilapidated castle, picking up another bird tailing him. Midna kept yelling at him to fight but Sora was not going to fight an aerial opponent unarmed.

He saw some poles, "Midna!" She complied, surprisingly, and Sora jumped onto pole after pole and landed on the roof. He was dismayed to find that the birds had even more companions, and soon the air filled with frantic footsteps and blaring horns.

Sora climbed up and into the tower through a window, glad that the birds didn't follow.

...

Inside he collapsed against the wall, panting. Blood dribbled down his chin and he wiped it up. He then crawled in deeper, and jumped down to land on a staircase.

Midna flew off, going up the stairs, "This way!"

Sora ran after, "Hey, wait up!" He opened the unlocked door, "Midna I-"

He stopped himself as a cloaked, vaguely feminine figured turned to him. He could see a pair of grayish eyes in the shadows of the hood, darting to Midna, then him, then back to Midna, "...Midna?! Who is this? What are you doing here?" The voice confirmed the figure was female with its light pitch and graceful tone.

"I'm Sora." Sora walked to her, "I-I'm sorry if we're-"

"What an honor, you remember my name." Midna laughed.

The girl looked at Sora, "So this is who you were searching for..."

Midna punched Sora's shoulder, "Not what I had in mind, but he'll do." Sora glared at her, since she punched him exactly where he'd been hurt earlier and the area was still sore.

The girl noticed Sora's bandages, "You were hurt..." She looked away, "I am sorry."

"Hey now," Sora said, "That was monsters, not you."

Midna only plopped on his spikes of hair, "Poor thing has no idea where he is or what's going on. Don't you think you should explain to him what you've done and what's going on?" She giggled a little ominously, "Twilight Princess?"

Sora grabbed Midna and pulled her off, "If she is a princess you shouldn't be so disrespectful!" He nodded his head in a light bow, "And sorry for my previous disrespect-"

"Listen carefully," the girl stopped him with a whisper, "This land was once bathed in light and the place where the power of the gods was said to slumber. This was once the Kingdom of Hyrule." Sora sat down, deciding this would be a long story, and the girl did the same, "But that kingdom has been transformed by the king that rules the twilight..."

The girl continued to weave a tale of exactly what had transpired. A coup had been staged by this "King of Twilight", bringing monsters much more powerful than anyone in this realm could have prepared for. The army that the ruling princess (she had yet to be coronated to queen) had managed to summon for a counterattack had been decimated easily, leaving enough soldiers alive for the king's following leverage to be more effective; surrender to the twilight and live, or fight and die. Judging how the land was covered in twilight, it was obvious even to Sora what choice the princess had made.

"All the people know now is fear... Fear of a nameless evil..." The girl said, standing. She continued, "The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I remain its princess..."

Sora's head snapped up. This girl was the Princess of Hyrule? He leaned back in surprise when the girl began undoing her hood, causing Midna to let out a small gasp as her hoodie bunk began swinging around.

"I am Zelda." The girl said softly, dark brown hair and an ornate crown now revealed.

Midna peeked out from Sora's hood, "You don't have to look so sad!" She leaned back behind Sora's hair with her hands behind her head, "We actually find it to be quite livable! I mean, is perpetual twilight really all that bad?"

Sora turned to her, "Well you grew up with it. As you've been seeing this stuff makes me sick! Literally!"

Zelda only shook her head lightly, "Midna, this is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching far and wide for you." Midna jumped out of Sora's hood and floated around in the air, "Why is this?"

Midna laughed and shrugged, "Why indeed, you tell me!"

Sora glared at her, "Hey, give us a straight answer!"

"Sora, was it?" Zelda asked, "It's alright." She then glanced at the door, "The guard will make his rounds soon, you must flee." Sora grunted in annoyance when Midna crashed back into his hood, then shook his head before nodding to Zelda.

He began leaving, but not before he turned around, "Zelda?"

"Whatever question you have, ask it quickly." Zelda replied.

Sora then pointed to the tainted veins on his neck, "How come we're both still human, but I'm the one who's sick?"

Zelda's composure didn't slip, but her words sounded uncertain, "I don't know."

...

After wandering back outside, Sora was relieved to see that the birds had taken roost elsewhere. He sneezed a bit in the rain.

Midna danced around in the air a bit, "So, what do you want to do?"

Sora thought it over, then said, "Get me out of this twilight stuff already."

Midna gave him a smug look, "You sure?"

Sora nodded, "Yes I just want to get out of this stuff so I can help these people."

Midna held out her hand, "Okay then!"

Sora then felt himself getting torn apart and tossed away. He quickly realized it was teleportation, and managed to get out a cry of anger- after all, why didn't Midna do this earlier?! -but was swept away to parts unknown.

* * *

I swear those freaking Kargoroks were the death of me playing this game I always avoid them at this part. But annoyingly enough if Midna can teleport things why didn't she teleport Link in the beginning but oh well she's Midna pre-character-development who can really blame her


	4. Illness and Kindness

Sora landed in ankle-deep water. The sun was beginning to set, drawing the spring Sora found himself in into a much more natural twilight. He looked at his hand, noting his skin had a slightly bruised tint to it and his blood vessels still stood out, except in this lighting they looked black.

"Oh, surprise surprise you aren't normal again!" Sora looked around for Midna, but found nothing, "Don't ask me why, but I will say if you want to find out, head back into the twilight. Just keep in mind you gotta be let in by me!"

"Show yourself!" Sora yelled. He sighed afterwards when he realized Midna had fled. He held up his hand, "I wond-" The Kingdom Key only appeared for a moment before he yelled and quickly decided his Keyblade was still unaccessible.

He walked out of the spring with a sigh of defeat, and looked around, "Well, there's a gate, so there's people nearby. Maybe someone can lend me a weapon."

Looking one way revealed a rickety bridge that would be dangerous to cross in the dimming light with some kind of eerie glow, the other way a much more secure route deeper into the woods, although there was something definitely not human patrolling around. Sora took the latter, "Potential fist fight it is."

The moment he said that the thing turned to him with beady red eyes. It yowled and brandished a club, prompting Sora to quickly assume a fragile speedster type of fighting. He dodged around the creature (it was decidedly not human; more like a goblin, Sora realized) until he managed to get around to its back to choke it from behind. It whined and shrieked and put up a typical fight, but Sora managed to choke it to the point where it fell limp and Sora could grab its club and hightail it before it could wake.

He observed his new weapon. A club wasn't his typical way of fighting, but it couldn't have been very different from his Keyblade, if just more blunt and short reached. Sora looked up to see that his previous opponent had buddies, and he quickly maneuvered to avoid them while making a counter with his newly acquired club.

He had to stop, right in the middle of combat, retching up his insides in a red mess. He blocked a club blow, then looked up and glared at his opponent. He shoved the goblin off, but not before getting knocked to the ground. He quickly rolled over, and blocked another set of strikes against him. Sora stood and clubbed both of them, sighing in relief when they toppled over and disappeared in black clouds of smoke.

Sora shakily grabbed his arm holding the club, still coughing and vomiting. It slipped away after awhile, leaving him dizzy and ill. But that was nothing new. He wondered if he should head back to the spring and wash up, but then he recalled a not-quite-dead monster up the way and decided against it. It was pretty obvious there was a town just beyond the gate and the house he suddenly noted had to have been made by someone, so honestly maybe he could have someone help him wash up.

He headed for the town. He drew up his hood to hide the whole "tainted vein" deal and possibly his sickly skin tone. Soon after the town came into view, and Sora was relieved to see a river to clean himself in. He made the shortest route to the river-

"MONSTER!"

Sora stiffened at the yell, then turned to the source. A man was perched on some rock above him, and was frantically pulling up a weed of some sort. Sora held up his hands, "H-Hey I'm not-!"

A piercing whistle later summoned a hawk, and the man directed it to Sora, "Back! Back!"

Sora covered his face as the hawk scratched at him, yelling furiously, "I'M NOT A MONSTER!" After a good minute of flesh being torn, the hawk left, but Sora entered another episode of coughing and collapsed, "I-I'M SICK!" He panted, unable to yell anymore, "And injured..." He heard the man yelling again, and maybe a few other voices, but he started slipping out of consciousness the moment someone picked him up.

"Don't worry, son, you're in good hands..." was one of the last things he heard before utter black.

...

Sora felt a cold cloth on his forehead. Soft whispers of a lullaby seemed to raise him from the darkness. He opened his eyes sluggishly, wondering what fleeting dreams ran away from him. He saw blond hair and blue eyes set to a feminine face and his mind leapt to conclusions.

"Namine...?" His words tumbled out slurred.

The woman set aside the cloth and rubbed his cheek, "Easy, easy, I don't know who I remind you of, but my name is Uli."

Sora blinked, quickly realizing his mistake. This woman was several years older than Namine, and a quick look over revealed she was quite a ways along towards having a baby. Definitely not Namine. He tried to ignore the heat rising to his cheeks, "S-sorry miss."

Uli smiled, "No worries, you've been ill."

A man bent over, "How ya feeling? I hope Hench's hawk didn't scratch you up too badly."

Sora sat up, "Uh, I feel good enough to sit up-" he paused to cough. He was about to wipe up the blood with his hand until Uli handed him a scrap of cloth. "Thanks." He added softly. Sora looked at himself properly- there was bandages wrapped around his chest that hugged his shoulder, and his arms were lost in white with an occasional speck of red and brown. He sighed and flopped his hands into his lap, flinching at the burst of pain but smiling nonetheless, "Remind me not to mess with hawks."

It felt good to laugh. It's been a little too long for Sora. He could tell from Uli and her companion's similar reaction it had been awhile since they had laughed too. The man's laughter dwindled to a chuckle, and he wrapped his arm around Uli, "I see my wife has already introduced herself, and folks around here call me Rusl."

Sora nodded, "Okay then, Rusl, Uli, I'm Sora. Thank you for helping me out." He rubbed his shoulder, feeling the gash through the gauze, "I-I'm sorry about looking like a monster-"

"No, no it's alright." Rusl explained, "Hench is a little high strung." The humor in his eyes faded, "We all are with what's been going on." He then went over to a table and picked up a sword, still sitting firmly in its scabbard, "Speaking of which, I should go out-"

"Rusl." Uli barely raised her voice but it's pleading whine with her hand on his shoulder and her stomach made it speak so much more. Rusl only unsheathed the sword a little and flecked off with was either dirt or dried blood. Sora noticed bandages around Rusl's chest like his, except they were much more soiled.

Sora leaned his legs over the edge of the couch he was laying on to stand up, "Any way I can help?" After a moment he added, "You could at least tell me what's wrong."

Rusl sheathed the sword and began heading for the door, "Monsters took our children, and they're still plaguing this town as if that wasn't enough!" Sora blinked at how quickly the kind and fatherly air of Rusl's tone left. He took another hard look at Rusl's state of being; he seemed to have slight trouble holding the sword right, not to mention if his bandages were dirtier he'd either had them longer or his wounds were far more grievous.

Sora stood, "I can get the kids back." Rusl looked back at him, his glare questioning. Sora held out his hand, "You give me the sword, I can save the kids or at least find out where they are."

Rusl looked at the sword, weighing it and what to do. He then said, "The eldest of them was seventeen and fiercely protective of the younger ones. Had a wooden sword he liked to use. I taught him most of what I know." Sora felt a slight drop in confidence, "He still got captured." Sora felt another drop when Rusl pointed the sword's pommel at him accusingly, "By the way, I just met you. You look like a reasonable kid, but I am not trusting on of the only swords I've forged in this village to you."

"Well then if there's others let me show you I can be trusted!" Sora sighed, "I promise I'm a lot more than I seem."

Rusl took a deep breath, obviously wanting to yell, but instead he said, "Fine. Uli can show you the short sword I was making for Jaggle." He opened the door, "Presuming we don't have another ambush, meet me outside for a spar."

* * *

(no idea what to comment just be glad I'm updating this)


	5. Into the Twilight

Sora's eyes needed to adjust to the dimmed light of night. He was surprised by how much he needed to blink, even if it was going from firelight to moonlight. He could see the glint of their swords easily enough, though.

"First blow that makes contact ends the match." Rusl said. Sora nodded.

He waited for other instructions, but was quickly surprised when Rusl just charged without a sound. Sora blocked it, sparks briefly crossing their vision as the swords ground against each other. Sora shoved him off and went for his typical counter, but quickly found Rusl was much more masterful than him.

"Good effort." Rusl said as he pressed down and twisted Sora's arm. He suddenly changed his defense to offense, lashing at Sora's shoulder, "But to win you need to step it up."

Sora blocked it, "Okay then!" He switched, feeling a well up of nausea that probably meant he was pushing it. He backed away, holding his body and his sword loosely. He bounced as he dodged Rusl's swipes, and soon felt the shore of the river he'd seen earlier. He jumped back and dove into the water.

Sora could hear a few noises (laughs or yells he wasn't sure) and saw a torch dance over the rippled surface. He grinned and swam off to shallower waters, and surfaced with a thrust at Rusl. He grinned when he saw that there was now a cut on his cheek, "First blow goes to me." He drew his sword back and stabbed it into the ground, "Now do you trust me?"

Rusl grinned, "I trust you."

...

Uli handed Sora a sword and shield the next morning with a bag, "Here, this will last you a trip to Kakariko."

Sora peeked into the bag, ignoring the fact he had no idea what or where Kakariko was, "Food, awesome!"

Rusl punched him lightly, "Keep in mind we and the town are trusting and counting on you to get our children back."

Sora set up the shield and sword on his back, nodding, "I promise I'll get 'em back." And so he left.

He passed by the spring, but halted at the voice that whispered into his ears, "young... hero... come to me..." He looked at the spring. Empty. He looked around some more. No one.

"That wasn't me."

Sora jumped and yelled in surprise as Midna popped out of his shadow, glaring at him. She waved her hand in exasperation, "I can do this naturally as a creature of shadows, ya know."

Sora yelled at her, "Warn me!"

She giggled and pulled at her eye, "It's fun seeing you scared!"

Sora went past her, "Well if that wasn't you-"

He stopped in the middle, the voice whispering again, "Be... prepared... It is... coming."

Sora drew his sword, looking around warily. He looked up and jumped back as some gigantic... thing fell from the sky. It was big and black with red lines, and honestly Sora was glad to beat the crud out of it with his newly acquired sword. It poofed out of existence with hardly any cry, which was much more disconcerting than Sora thought it would be.

He washed off the blade in the water, "That... That was... interesting." He coughed a little, but let the blood run down his chin. After all if it was just going to keep happening why even bother?

The sky darkened, and soon it felt like it was a moonless night. Sora bolted upright and drew his hands in closer, "H-hey what's-"

A glow diffused from the center of the spring at his feet, running up the rocks and illuminating everything. Sora had to squint when it looked like the water sprang up just from the suddenness of all the light, but found himself gaping in awe at the beast before him. Nothing but pure light, and rather goat-like with the horns fusing into a circle.

It stared at him with a strange intelligence and wisdom beyond ages, and spoke with a voice Sora could only hear as a keening song, "Thank you, young hero, for saving me."

Sora sheathed his sword reluctantly, "Uh, I kinda do things like that all the time."

The light-beast nodded, "Indeed."

Sora scratched his chin, then turned to leave, "Y-you're welcome-"

"O hero, wait." The beast said, "I have the knowledge you crave." Sora turned back, letting it continue, "I am the Light of Ordon Province. I am Ordona."

"The light?" Sora asked, "How can you-" he shook his head, "Never mind."

"I am one of the four Light Spirits that withhold the twilight from Hyrule." Ordona continued, "And I am sure you are wondering what you just defeated."

Sora looked to the sky, noting the black and blue thing that now seemed to hover in the heavens, "Uh, yeah..."

"You have slain a slave of the Twilit King, o hero, and saved myself and Ordon from the twilight." Sora nodded hesitantly, as if that seemed a little... big. Even by his standards, which then again hadn't really changed despite his universe-saving antics. He snapped his head up when Ordona began speaking again, "I know you are wondering why the twilight lingers in your veins."

Sora lifted his hand to wipe up the blood from his mouth, "Right..." He was vaguely surprised to find that instead of blood there was water now.

Ordona's mournful song sounded sadder, "I cannot restore you completely, but I can grant you a boon of my Light. I can purge only the smallest amounts of the twilight within you, but I cannot remove it all."

Sora wiped up the water completely, "Thank you, but..." he laughed at himself, "I sound so greedy saying this, but why can't you help me completely?"

Ordona explained with regret, "You lost your light when my kin, Lanayru, fell. I cannot restore you to your rightful state because your light is sleeping within folds of twilight with the rest of Lanayru province."

Sora nodded, then turned away once more, expecting to leave, "Okay. Thank you, Ordona, Light of Ordon."

"Part of that light slumbers within you." Sora stopped abruptly, leaving ripples in the spring. So that was the other being that had approached him begging for rescue. "Lanayru's light is perhaps the only thing between you and an ordinary spirit. Exposure to the twilight saps the strength of my kin, and of yourself." Sora quietly held a hand to his heart as Ordona continued, "I beseech you, do not be hasty and rush into the shadows without thinking. Every second your life and Lanayru's is sapped away. Lift the dark cloud of twilight from Hyrule quickly and decisively."

Sora nodded, "Right, so it's either clear the twilight, or die trying."

"Indeed." Ordona said softly.

Sora saw the light fading and the darkness exposing it lifting, "Hyrule is in your foreign hands, young hero..."

Sora turned and the spring, well, was just a spring. He turned, then ran towards the wall of twilight shielding what he had been told was Faron Woods. He held out his hand, "Midna, you know what to do."

He didn't stop for a beat when Midna popped out with an annoyed huff, then vanished into the twilight. Midna's ponytail lashed out, and Sora was dragged into the twilit forest headfirst and running.

* * *

Back into the twilight~


End file.
